Estimated $11 million in Week 1 Oregon marijuana sales

Recreational marijuana has been legally on sale in stores for a week now. Agencies have started looking into how much paper green came of that first week, and the number is astonishing to many: An estimated $11 million was self-reported by pot shops across the state.

“We’ve probably seen several thousand new patients over the course of the week. Sales are through the roof,” Sam Stapleton, president of Diamond Tree, said Thursday.

Colorado’s first-week revenue, by comparison, was $5 million. Washington state didn’t reach $2 million for months.

Stapleton said the number gap is because Oregon pot shops are competitive with the street price. He said along with the shopping experience, people want to buy legally.

There are nearly 300 pot shops in the state. If you do the math, the average intake per shop is about $37,000. In Bend, there are 18 stores. If those stores were on par with the average, Bend shops brought in more than $600,000.

That number is not official, but still impressive.

“We did really well. The index was nearly five times our normal business,” Stapleton said.

One shop in Bend self-reported high above that average. Locally owned Oregrown said on Day 1, it made $55,000. Co-owner Aviv Hadar said by the end of the week, the shop had made $250,000.

For now, that money is tax-free. In January, a 25 percent tax on recreational pot will be added. That money will go to mental health, public schools, police and cities and counties with shops.